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'BioShock' studio Irrational Games shutting down

The studio behind first-person shooter classic BioShock is closing its doors. Boston-based Irrational Games will shut down after 17 years, co-founder Ken Levine revealed in a statement on the studio's website.

Boston-based Irrational Games will shut down after 17 years, co-founder Ken Levine revealed in a statement on the studio's website. The company was responsible for the 2007 hit BioShock and 2013 follow-up BioShock Infinite, both of which were among the best video games of their respective years.

"It's been the defining project of my professional life," Levine wrote of Irrational Games, which was founded in 1997.

Levine says he will retain 15 members of the Irrational team for a new project with Take-Two Interactive, the video game publisher that launched the BioShock series through its 2K label.

Levine says the new endeavor will involved "highly replayable" narrative-driven video games for the core player.

"To meet the challenge ahead, I need to refocus my energy on a smaller team with a flatter structure and a more direct relationship with gamers," says Levine. "In many ways, it will be a return to how we started: a small team making games for the core gaming audience."

Levine says the BioShock franchise netted more than a half-billion dollars in revenue since launching in 2007 for PC and the Xbox 360 (a PS3 version was released a year later).